First to step up to the plate was Lyra. Her expression was uncharacteristically serious and dangerous. Quick to embarrass and inexperienced in matters of intimacy she may be, but there was a reason she was counted among the strongest in this group of outlaws.

Her cores were all at the fourth rank and, surprisingly, she carried two weapons. In her right hand she held a longbow, and on her back rested a long but slender sword. Next to the sword was a flat quiver with a few tens of arrows sticking out of it, while her left hand held a single one of them, ready to fire.

Her clothes were the same as most of the others, consisting of a simple, slightly ragged tunic falling to her thighs, a belt to sinch it at the waist, tight pants, and slim combat boots.

"Two weapons?" Kane muttered in surprise. "I'd only seen her with the bow."

Next to him, Aelia nodded. "She didn't have time to grab her sword when we attempted to rush towards the other side of the base. But yeah, she uses two weapons, and she's actually the only one among us who had any formal training…"

"Oh?" he responded with a curiously raised eyebrow. "How did that happen?"

But Aelia frowned and shook her head. "That's her story to tell, not mine."

"Fair enough," Kane nodded casually, before refocusing on the ensuing battle.

On the arena, Lyra and Luna stared at each other for a moment. Lyra with tensed focus, and Luna with casual amusement.

"I bet big sister would accept the five percent at this point if you'd like to call it here," Lyra suddenly said as if trying to give Luna an out.

"No thank you," Luna grinned mischievously while licking her lips. She was still in her crouched combat form, with her tail swaying slowly behind her.

"Fine. Then here I come!" Lyra exclaimed with narrowed eyes. With quick and practiced movements, she nocked the arrow in her hand on the bow, pulled back, and released, before grabbing the next arrow behind her back, all in one fluid movement.

The first arrow shot at Luna with explosive speed. Surprisingly, it was engulfed in a softly glowing blue light, sticking closely to the projectile's form.

"Force element!" Ella softy muttered with a hint of surprise. "Not bad!"

"That's right," Aelia smirked confidently. "Underestimate my little Lyra at your own peril."

Beside them, Kane nodded thoughtfully. Although techniques, talent, and skill, where the biggest decider in most battles, there was a marked difference in elemental power, with some being marginally stronger than others. While not terribly important, they were often the deciding factor in otherwise matched fights. And force was a solid mid-tier element.

It was unknown if Luna actually recognized the force element, but it was clear she wasn't impressed by Lyra's arrow. As soon as it was fired, Luna also jumped into a charge, straight towards Lyra and in the projectile's path.

In the blink of an eye, the catling and arrow were about to collide, but Luna sliced at the arrow with her right sword. Unfortunately, she'd clearly underestimated the arrow's force, because it knocked her sword straight out of her hand without stopping its trajectory.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Clearly, this was a case where Luna's skill did not compensate for the lower ranking blood core.

Yet, impressively, Luna barely flinched or even reacted at all. With a focused frown, she dodged the arrow and continued running. Yet, she didn't leave her sword behind.

As if using eyes in the back of her head, the catling's tail snapped behind her and wrapped itself around the airborne sword's grip, before depositing it safely back in her right hand without skipping a beat.

Meanwhile, more arrows flew in her direction, but she was prepared. For the first time since she started these challenges, Luna called upon her technique: the Sanguine Spark, which combined both her blood and lightning elements.

Crimson lightning began to coil around her right sword, while the left remained behind her back.

For many of the onlookers, this was the first time seeing Luna's technique, and the dreadful power they felt in that lightning was humbling. Such was the effect when two mid-tier elements combined into a fourth stage technique.

This was another powerful advantage Luna had to compensate for her lower core ranks. After all, these bandits had practiced first stage techniques for most of their lives, and now had a second stage technique for less than a day.

With the lightning coiling around her blade, Luna swiped forward and send a wave of lightning towards the arrows. Two of them were destroyed before the wave dissipated, but more waves followed to challenge Lyra's arrows.

Lyra, meanwhile, had awe shining in her eyes, but she remained focused as she fired arrow after arrow like a machine gun. In the end, however, the arena was only so large, and soon, Luna was upon her while grinning widely.

Instantly, Lyra dropped her bow on the floor, and pulled the blade from her back, before swinging it at Luna in the same motion.

The blade glimmered dangerously, but, unfortunately for Lyra, close combat was where Luna excelled. Had she truly lost one of her swords on the way she might have had some more difficulty with this. But as it stood, Lyra was outmatched, despite whatever formal training she'd once received.

Blade smashed against blade as Lyra tried desperately to break through Luna's defences, but was unable to, despite the fact that the catling used only her right-hand sword to parry and deflect.

She couldn't directly block, of course, because Lyra was not only using both hands on her weapon, but her blood core was also of a higher rank. Yet, Luna's superior training was showing as she used minimal movements to easily move Lyra's blade in harmless directions.

Then, when her opponent was staggering, she'd use her reverse-gripped, left-handed sword to attack, forcing Lyra to scramble in order to defend herself.

It was clear that Lyra's training was allowing her to last a little longer, but in the end, she, too, was defeated.

ting

Once again, Luna's blade was stopped a mere inch from Lyra's neck, following by the sound of shattering glass, and the lights shining down to determine the victor.

Next to him, Kane heard a soft sigh of relief, and quickly realized it was Aelia. Clearly, she'd been worried.

Lyra panted heavily as fear and awe battled in her eyes when she looked at the blade that so nearly decapitated her. Inwardly, she thanked the gods that this ancient technology didn't suddenly decide to break down.

"I— I underestimated you," she gulped while blinking slightly.

Grinning, Luna straightened her back, retrieved her sword, and rested in on her shoulder. "And I you," she shrugged casually.

"Maybe so, but you still won…" Lyra pouted slightly, but before anyone could say anything else, she turned around and jumped off the platform.

She turned to Aelia while poking her fingers together awkwardly, "S— Sorry, big sis…"

Aelia looked a little unsettled. Seeing Lyra nearly decapitated had made her feel queasy. So, she took the young woman in her arms and squeezed tight. "Stop that, little Lyra. You were amazing! But please be more careful in a real fight, alright?! Underestimating her nearly got you killed!"

Lyra smiled happily and returned the hug, "I promise!"

Kane smirked slightly at the surprising display of sweetness, but he had no time to make fun of them, because it appeared that the next challenger had no interest in waiting.

Mira walked on to the stage.